The New Democrat Online

Liberal Democrat

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Its been said that presidents who have military or foreign policy experience, are less likely to commit American troops to combat in foreign nations, than presidents without that previous experience. Because they know exactly what they are putting those troops through and what they have to go through. And the sacrifices they and their families will make as a result and perhaps even the ultimate sacrifice they may make. I'll give you a perfect example of that. When Dwight Eisenhower became President in 1953, one of the first things he looked to was to get American troops out of the Korean War. Because he saw it as a civil war.

Ronald Reagan a World War II veteran, never committed American troops into combat. We never went to war in his eight years as President. Jimmy Carter, another World War II veteran, never committed American troops to combat in his four years either. President George H.W. Bush did commit troops to the Gulf War in 1991. But for a very limited mission. Get Iraq out of Kuwait, not to invade and occupy Iraq. A big country of twenty-five million people, a mistake that his son wasn't able to avoid twelve years later.

President George W. Bush, who never had combat experience, or foreign policy experience. Other than signing up for the reserves to avoid Vietnam service, commits American troops to two wars within seventeen months as President. In Afghanistan and Iraq. Two wars we are now trying to get out of ten years later. We'll never know what type of president John Kerry would've made on foreign policy, or anything else. And I believe thats unfortunate, because we are talking about a Vietnam veteran from the Baby Boom Generation. Who volunteered to serve his country in Vietnam, unlike George W. Bush who did everything he can to avoid service there.

But when you here Senator Kerry talk about foreign policy as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and as a senior Senator, you know that he doesn't take these things lightly. And committing American troops to any war is a huge deal and shouldn't be taken lightly. And when he here presidential candidates who have no decisions to make as candidates as far as what we should be doing as a country when it comes to foreign policy and they talk about a potential war with Iran, kinda lightly like committing troops to an operation, "like this is really not that big of a deal", as you saw Senator Kerry on his Senate floor speech about an editorial that Mitt Romney wrote in the Washington Post today, you know the difference between someone who knows what they're talking about, because they've been there and someone who doesn't, because they haven't.

Where Senator Kerry criticizes Governor Romney's editorial criticizing President Obama's policy on Iran, I know as someone thats never served my country in the military or foreign service, that talking about committing American troops to any type of foreign wars is a huge deal. And shouldn't be taken lightly and what people say on the campaign trail and what they can do once they get to office are two different things. And that its easy to talk tough on the campaign trail. But once you're actually in office, its a much different story.

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Blogger/Publisher Erik Schneider

I blog about practically everything that I'm interested in and knowledgeable about. Primarily about current affairs, news, politics and history. But for history, is not just about government and politics. But it covers those things, but entertainment, from movies to music, TV, sports, movies that are about politics and current affairs. Whether the characters are played by actors, or whether the film is in documentary form.

I'm interested in a lot of different things and spend a lot of my time learning about those things to the point that I feel the need to tell everybody what I know and think about what I have learn. Not sure if that is a good thing, or not. Since I'm a blogger, I hope that is good. Again for current affairs and news, as well as politics. But what is going on in those areas today, but also what happened in those areas in the past. History, is about teaching today's generation about what happened in the past. So we know what went well back in the day, but also what didn't work. So we know what works and what doesn't.

But again not just current affairs, news and politics. I love movies, especially classic movies. And when I'm not working and I'm at home, you can generally find me watching a movie. Or a ball game from that day, or a ball game from the past. And then if I'm really interested in what I'm seeing and I believe I'm pretty knowledgable about that, you can generally find what I learn from what I just watched up on my blog. You can physically take me away from my blog, but my mind is always there thinking about what's next for the blog. Looking for the next piece to write about.

I'm also a big fan of bios and watch a lot of them and read about people I'm interested in a lot as well. And again when I see a good bio about someone that I'm really interested in and I'm knowledgeable about, you can find what I know about that person and era up on my blog. I love documentaries, true crime, bios and bios of all kinds. Actors, politicians, athletes musicians, activists, a lot of different people.

I blog about a lot of different things. So if you're checking out my blog, but you're only interested in perhaps a few areas, you're probably not going to see a lot of what you're looking for. And end up seeing a lot of things you could probably care less about. But if you're someone who has multiple interests and knowledgable about those areas as well, I hope you check out my blog. Because I think we can learn from each other. I always welcome input to my blog. Just try to keep it professional and courteous. We can disagree with each other without trying to destroy each other. And perhaps even learn from each other.